Hit after hit: The Eagles bring 'The Long Goodbye' to TD Garden

BOSTON — It was one of those nights, one of those crazy, crazy TD Garden nights, when the hits kept coming and the crowd kept singing and dancing to the music of one of the most beloved bands from the 1970s, the Eagles.

Every song played Monday night was a bona fide hit and crowd-pleaser that sounded better with age.

During their unbeatable two-hour, 21-song set, which included a three-song encore, the Eagles played all 10 songs that made up “Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975),” the best-selling album in U.S. history; as well as three hits from “Hotel California,” the third best-selling album in U.S. history.

In addition to covering the band’s rich catalog, the Eagles played an irresistible Don Henley solo smash (when there was room for several more) and four Joe Walsh radio hits (which was one too many) including one from his days with the James Gang.

Touted as “The Long Goodbye,” this is being billed as the final tour of the Eagles, the band that epitomized the Laurel Canyon sound. And from the reaction of the crowd and the strength and beauty of their collective pipes, the Eagles, despite four out of six of the band’s core-members being in their 70s, are retiring way too early from the concert stage. Then again, it doesn’t hurt to cash in while the iron is hot.

After a short video examining the band's evolution from hit-making hippies to spiffy yuppies, the latest incarnation of the band lined up in the front of the stage, an arm's-distance apart from each other, with a mic stand in front of them and guitar strapped to their person.

Henley and Deacon Frey (whose father was Glenn Frey, a founding member of Eagles who died in 2016) shared the center spot onstage when Henley wasn’t behind his drum kit.

With bassist Timothy B. Schmit; singing and guitar-playing secret weapon Vince Gill to Henley’s right; and gonzo guitar god Walsh and unsung Steuart Smith to Deacon’s left; the six showed off their impeccable harmonies with the stellar set opening “Seven Bridges Road.”

Deacon did his late daddy proud on the free-wheeling, flirty opus “Take It Easy,” the song that singlehandedly made Winslow, Arizona, sound cool in the ‘70s.

A dead ringer for his dad when he was still a young man, Deacon Frey – sporting a bushy moustache and wavy hair and wearing a beige suede jacket and strumming a 12-string acoustic guitar – sang with the same youthful enthusiasm for “a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford” that his father did before he was born.

Despite being partially concealed behind his drum kit, Henley – wearing a black vest and a rolled-up, pinned-striped, long-sleeve shirt that made him look like he was going to deal cards before pounding the skins – was front and center during the captivating “One of These Nights,” the first of five No. 1 songs performed that night that pretty much summed up the evening ahead.

Not to be outdone, county music legend Gill, arguably the best vocalist onstage on a stage made up of great vocalists, commandingly sang lead on another chart-topper, “New Kid In Town.”

After thanking the crowd for coming out on a “school night,” Henley made a pledge to keep the conversation down to the bare minimum (which he did), in order to get more songs in including the adult lullaby “Take It to the Limit,” dedicated to “dearly departed” bandmate and founding member Randy Meisner (who died July 26 at age 77) and sung by Gill with the remainder of the core band sharing harmonies.

Henley also dedicated the Eagles’ first number one single “Best of My Love” to “America," which, unless something happened last night while I was in the arena, is still alive and well.

After three No. 1 hits performed five numbers in, the Eagles unleashed the bewitching rocker “Witchy Woman,” with Henley singing lead and his fellow bandmates howling at the moon in unison.

Despite the strong vocals of Deacon Frey, Gill and Henley, the winsomely whiny Walsh almost singlehandedly stole the first half of the concert with a gritty, full-throttle version of “In the City,” the quasi-love theme from “The Warriors.” With the audience ready to rumble, the rubbery-faced rocker showed off his skill as an unabashed front-man and a scruffy guitar god.

Before the crowd could get too rowdy, Schmit took it down several notches with his tender and vulnerable reading of “I Can’t Tell You Why.”

Gill’s best moments as a vocalist came while singing lead on the timeless country-tinged “Lyin’ Eyes,” while Deacon Frey's best moment came when he sang his father’s ol’ victory song “Already Gone.”

Declaring that “this goes out to our old friend Jimmy Buffett,” who died Sept. 1, Henley delivered a song that could be described as the ultimate anti-Jimmy Buffett song, his sorrowful and resentful solo smash “The Boys of Summer.” If anything made the audience second-guess Henley pulling the plug on the Eagles, it was this number.

Walsh, the band's resident court jester, dusted off The James Gang nugget “Funk #49” which culminated with an extended jam with Walsh and Gill trading off tasty guitar licks. While the band truly rocked out whenever Walsh took over, a little Walsh goes a long way and the burnt-out rock star shtick gets tired quick, even though the audience seemed to eat it up like it was granola Monday night.

Henley stood front and center with his bandmates on the rip-roaring rocker “Life In the Fast Lane,” the Eagles’ scathing commentary about sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll excess.

The Eagles had the crowd on its feet and clapping in unison for the irresistible, keg-party anthem “Heartache Tonight,” which closed out the main set.

The encore kicked off with another Walsh solo outing, 1973’s “Rocky Mountain Way,” which, after “Life’s Been Good" being played less than an hour earlier, was one Walsh novelty song too many.

Henley and the Eagles didn’t need to let somebody love them because everyone in the sold out arena obviously did by the time he reached his end-of-the-night signature “Desperado.”

But it was another No. 1 smash and arguably the Eagles' undisputed masterpiece that ended the evening. You guessed it: “Hotel California.”

Peaking from behind his drum kit, Henley delivered the road-weary, tortured narrative of being an unwilling guest in a roadside inn that makes the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining" look like the Four Seasons.

With intricate dueling guitar work that is as incendiary as the indelible layered harmonies, Walsh and Smith – the latter playing an arena rock-friendly, double-neck guitar – combined forces and traded off guitar leads to flesh out the heaven-and-hell narrative.

Here's hoping the Eagles "check out" from touring but never actually leave.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Review: The Eagles The Long Goodbye Tour at TD Garden in Boston